Virtual Reality is a gimmick that's not going to catch on

Ride will eat humble pie the day the world goes under.

Because he is correct in the fact that VR will be nothing but a gimmick and that it will have its biggest draw outside gaming circles. It will be like with the Wii and motion controllers.

VR at its current state is far from being able to remove the comfort and the pleasure of just sitting down in front of a big screen or a monitor and play.

@Jacanuk: You are using the word gimmick wrong, you and many others in here including The Last Ride.

VR was a gimmick in the 90's, it was a product that came to life and then it just faded away but this time around that wont happen, the word you should use instead is "niche product" because that's what it really is in it's current state.

VR today is like a train that can't be stopped, to much support behind it for it to be "just a gimmick"

Please dont confuse me with a idiot.

I am using the word Gimmick because that is what VR is and will be, not because i can't understand what a word means or how to look it up if i were confused.

I don't think i am going to eat anything, i am not hating on VR, i just don't think it's going to catch on

What you naysayers are doing is assuming. And then you are basing your arguments off those assumptions that you ASSUME are correct. First of all, you guys show your ignorance greatly in your responses. Secondly, you are assuming that this is just a continued attempt, or off-shoot of the "3d/Motion Controls" craze. A continued drive to make as much money as possible. We get it. To you, that's what it is. To any IGNORANT person on that matter, that's what it's going to be. You guys were MOST LIKELY the type that thought Motion Controls were going to be huge, and then you were let down. Thinking that you were fooled, and not to be fooled again. I, on the other hand, knew motion controls were a huge gimmick even before the Wii came out. Why? Because YOU ARE STILL LOOKING AT A TV. Because it's not Virtual Reality. The end all. It's just a gimmicky attempt at something sort of like it. But wait. If I though motion controls were always a gimmick, then why the hell am I excited for this VR? Because I've done a ton of research on the matter, watched a plethora of videos, and have tried even the Gear VR. It's what we have always dreamed of. The holodeck. It's not 3d. It's not motion controls. It's displaying content in a true virtual world that you are present in. Like they do on that game Heavy Rain. Descriptions like "It's a world that is all around you" make it difficult for the skeptic to conceptualize what VR is. I'm sure many of you fall victim to picturing VR as a Screen that is close to your face. ANd it has 3d to make it look real. And it tracks your head. Big whoop. We already have that with the computer. I don't want to turn my head left. Yada yada yada. Again, those are jaded assumptions caused the the last 10 years of let downs. NO. That's not what VR is. Look at the world around you. Actual reality. Now imagine what you are looking at is computer graphics. That's virtual reality! That's why head tracking has to be PERFECT and FPS have to be HIGH. To simulate how we see in real life. Now with this ability to simulate reality, imagine ALL the worlds we can come up with. Vast expansive world all centered around you. Breath-taking vistas. This is an obvious HUGE DEAL that will change everything. If you disagree, that's because you assuming it's not that good. But it is. why do you think it's gaining so much traction?

No, we're not assuming. We are basing this off history... Something you might have heard of? We aren't ignorant for doing it. Besides, VR has been done at least twice before and falling flat on its face... Do you really need more evidence? We aren't ignorant...

As long as enough games support it and I can buy an affordable VR Headset for my personal use that works well to greatly enhance my immersion in supported games I could care less weather it has mass adoption. It doesn't need to achieve that in order to succeed if VR sell in the millions its a success imo proves theres a merket for it.

This is the next truly big jump in improving immersion in games and an earlier stepping stone for more advance forms of VR in the future with the end goal being a simulation so realistic its indistinguishable from reality in every way think The Matrix level VR but that's still a long long long ways off.

I disagree being in first person is what made mirrors edge the great game it is had it been a third person camera I doubt I would have enjoyed it as much as I did. Immersion had a big factor in this and adding VR headset support to the game would only make it even better.

We can only hope VR does catch on since it's the biggest jump forward for gaming since 2D -> 3D.

Most likely will only gain any real ground on PC though which works for me since that's what I play. The Occulus Rift is going to be awesome.

Wow learn to paragraph your ramblings.

Anyways you can believe what you want but no its not the holodeck, its insane even to claim that it is. Not to mention that it's very ironic that you somehow think that your opinion is more correct and feel the need to belittle anyone else.

You can disagree but in the end none of us knows what's going to happen. But from experience and knowledge we can draw some conclusion and looking at this as a gimmick is probably not going to be too far from the truth.

I see your point, but I would say that the difference between previous attempts at VR and what is coming out in the next few years is so significantly different as to be basically something completely new, so I wouldn't base the future of VR on past failures.

I was torn on this. In the beginning I kind of wanted Mirror's Edge to be 3rd person so I could actually see the cool Parkour moves I was doing, but in the end I really liked the game for what it was.

Very true.

-Byshop

@papatrop: Why do you think vr will only gain any real ground on the pc?

@Byshop: i see the evidence for all of the previous tries at doing something new, gamers don't want it. They want to play their games with a controller in their hands watching a TV or Monitor

Because they only one who has shown VR on consoles is Sony, and Sony has a history of not supporting their peripherals.

Occulus Rift on the PC has the backing of Facebook which is a company that wants to absolutely dominate the VR scene, and it has support from many developers such as John Carmack and even Valve. It's also sought after by the modding community on PC.

@The_Last_Ride: I suggest you read my long paragraph again. Instead of glossing over it. Try to find the important points. Who knows if you have the intelligence for it though. I doubt it. STOP BASING THIS OFF TECHNOLOGY THAT DIDN'T WORK 20 YEARS AGO. 20 F'N YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. they were trying to make VR with sega genesis graphics? um maybe that's why it didn't work?

And learn to open your mind a little more. Virtual Reality transcends traditional experiences and video games. It's something greater. It's about experiences. Those vistas and huge expansive worlds i'm talking about. Virtual Reality is not about.... gaining an edge in some video games. That's such a narrow minded view. It's about being completely immersed in virtual world both audibly and visually. TO the point that you actually feel like you are there. It's about having FUN. Not about gaining an advantage. STOP THINKING MOTION CONTROLS. It has to be seamless. Which is now is.

And yes, it is the holodeck- visually and audibly. Anything less, and VR would not be where it is today. Stop assuming 20 years ago has anything to do with this now. This is the first time a VR headset has been in the hands of 100's of thousands of people. And stop assuming that this is the same gimmick as 3d/motion controls. How much convincing do you need. I'm sorry that you are unable to see that. It's not a difficult concept to understand at all.

A vast expansive world to be in? or a little tiny window to look through. I mean there is NO COMPETITION.
The ignorance on your part is what causes me to respond. It makes me angry. The stupidity and stubborness. You deserve to be slapped in the face.

And since when do gamers prefer relaxation over video games? If you want to go relax, lay down and watch tv. If you want to explore things, play video games or try VR. Virtual reality has nothing to do with "waggle your arms". That's another null argument.

Anyway, I'm done. I argue with skeptics day in and day out. Gets my blood flowing. When I found out earlier last year that VR was finally here, I was exhilarated. I've been waiting since the 90's. I had no idea that there would be this many jaded skeptics. Stop trying to hold back technology. This is bleeding edge. Not some cash grab gimmick. Learn to differentiate b/w the two. Believe me, I've done enough research to see how good these experiences are. YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE NOT.

You're not going to have a good time if you're going to insult people before you've reached 10 posts... You do know the Sega graphics you are insulting were the highest form of graphics at one point right?

It is motion controls, because you need to move your head up and down for looking around, it's a gimmick. It's not enhancing anything.

You claim a lot of people have their hands on VR, how about the millions who have access to motion controls and rejected that?

"The ignorance on your part is what causes me to respond. It makes me angry. The stupidity and stubborness. You deserve to be slapped in the face."

Wow dude... Just wow... I have an opinion and your answer to this is that i am tupid and to be slapped in the face? I feel sorry for you

Games are for enjoyment, putting something big on your head isn't something everyone wants... People want to look at a tv or monitor and play games. You're not "waggle your arms", you do it with the head this time.

Yeah, but it doesn't seem you have any valid arguments when you attack someones character and be rude instead of having a good argument. This whole post is bad. I don't know if you're familiar with something called opinion. I did never state i wanted to hold back technology, another slippery slope argument. I did never state that.

Oh! So you've done research! You have experience, i am so sorry!

If it was third person then it would have fallen because there not much to the game to start with. This is compared to other platformers that are third person. I find third person is much better to move around. I call mirror edge an alright games but being first person is something that limited what it can be. I did not really enjoy it because it was so limited and it was limited because it was first person. Few games type are improved by being first person and more will be hurt by it.

Also first person is not immersive. Breaking the forth wall all the times is not immersive and first person person break it all the time.

@papatrop: What peripherals did they not support? Im just curious.

VR is something Sony has been dreaming about since playstation 1 so im sure they will support it, they allready got a whole bunch of known developers working on VR games for them right now as we speak. All the games i have seen so far on the Oculus are mostly indie games, correct me if im wrong?

Btw, The Morpheus with the Ps4 will be the cheapest and most accessable VR device on the market and that is something the mainstream audience appriciate very much so logically speaking VR has a better chance to reach the massmarket on the Ps4 than any other platform. When that is said, im sure they both will succeed.

@gregglle: you should really try to be more civil, because you're not going to be taken seriously if you post like that. Just a friendly advice

@gregglle: People may disagree wtih you, but please keep the discussion civil and on topic. Personal attacks are not tolerated on this forum.

-Byshop

Aww poor babies. I was being emphatic and generalizing to all the naysayers.

That's beside the point. I explained why vr isnt a gimmick today. I gave great reasons why it's not. Yet your stubbornness prevails. This is not a matter of opinion. It's a matter of assumptions. You have not even tried the device. So how can you have an opinion? But guess what would happen if you did try it? YOU WOULD MOST LIKELY BE CONVERTED like everyone else. That's the ironic part. Every skeptic I talk to has never tried it. And everyone that's tried it gets it.

Someone can choose not to like vr but that doesn't make it a gimmick. I'm trying to educate you on how to conceptualize vr. If you read any of my previous response you would know what I mean by that.

Sega Genesis was amazing. But we did not have technology powerful enough or cost efficient enough to make real vr. It was Def a gimmick by today's standards.

I'm done

@gregglle: i wouldn't even consider buying it, because it is a gimmick. People get motion sickness from these things.

I don't chose not like VR, i just don't see the purpose for it.

But you can see how that argument can be used everytime something new pops up don't you? Just because we have the technology for it doesn't mean it's a viable for games as a whole

OOOOOooooo!! Look at how hot VR is at CES this year! And oculus VR continues to blow minds!!!!!!!!

What are you talking about? I've barely heard anything. Curved tv's, drones and other things have gotten a bigger buzz

Yeah, but that's sort of my point. The games that REALLY sell people on VR are probably gonna be, for the most part, the games that are built for VR from the bottom up. But it's sort of hard to justify making those kinds of games until enough people actually have VR headsets.

So at least at first, it'll be hard to justify building games for VR from the ground up. The ones that do it are generally gonna be the niche games that most gamers don't really care about anyway, and the games that people actually care about are generally gonna only use VR in a tack-on way that doesn't really utilize it to its full potential.

Hopefully EVENTUALLY this kind of technology becomes popular enough that someone will eventually make a must-have game that absolutely requires VR to be appreciated. I'm just saying that if that happens, it's gonna take a while for that to happen. It's not gonna happen overnight, it's gonna be a gradual build-up of the VR-capable user base until EVENTUALLY someone has the balls to make a game that kicks so much ass that it forces the doubters to go buy a VR headset. You're not gonna see that happen in the next five years, and probably not within the next 10 years. I'm not saying that VR doesn't have a future. I'm just saying that if VR has a substantial future beyond just a small niche audience, then we're still gonna have to wait a while until we get to that point.

@MrGeezer: Clarifying my end goal in great detail would be a tangent because as with the purpose of virtual reality varying with the software that is designed for support from it, my goals are varied and depend on many factors. I shall just say that I seek to sustain and improve the world. Also, as the ethics of gaming journalism are talked about on Games Discussion, the ethics of virtual reality technology in relation to video games are discussable in this forum. How foreseeable the future of video games is can be talked about here and they often are in threads about gaming in for the next year or video game generation. That is the same thing that we are discussing, here. One last thing, something currently not a game may be something capable of undergoing gamification. I recommend keeping an open mind about these things. =)

@BranKetra: I didn't say that the topic couldn't be discussed here, I was saying that it is so far into the future and so much of a purely theoretical nature that it doesn't really apply to this specific thread. I'm all for discussing this kind of stuff on a theoretical level. I'm all for talking about how the Star Wars universe advocates slavery and how Professor X is worse than a rapist and how the holodeck is one of the scariest sci-fi technologies ever envisioned. But it kind of doesn't really apply to this specific thread. Even if the VR currently in development was so amazing that everyone on Earth wanted to go out and buy it immediately, that STILL isn't anywhere close to the horrifying nightmare VR scenarios presented in Star Trek or The Matrix or Existenz. Therefore, the themes brought up by such sci-fi stories which utilize VR aren't really applicable. Even if everyone wants that stuff to happen, or doesn't want that stuff to happen, that stuff isn't close to even being POSSIBLE. So...whether such a future is a good thing or a bad thing sort of has nothing to do with this thread, which is explicitly about the implementation of virtual reality on a short term time frame. The VR currently in development has NOTHING to do with either the best parts or the worst parts of the holodeck. Because even if VR became ubiquitous overnight, we STILL wouldn't be anywhere close to having a holodeck.

The technologies conceptualized on screen are indeed theoretical, but the aspects of them which can undergo gamification are not and that is the reason why they are relevant. For example, the holodeck in Star Trek: TNG has training programs which could be made with current VR technology, though not as sophisticated as dramatized. Instead of going into a holodeck for target practice with a phaser, for instance, the player would put on the VR headset and use the controller to aim and hit targets. Next, The Matrix has virtual reality programs which could be gamified into current virtual reality technology such as the martial arts program. It would not be as sophisticated, but a player could use a controller to play in first person against a computer or real opponent. All that is needed for it to work on current VR technologies is the missing software.

Whether future technologies were impending was not my message; I am saying we can learn from these technologies and perhaps we shall someday fully realize them, yet that is not without some references from both real and fictional technologies.

The themes of the science fiction technologies mentioned are relevant if you are talking about that which can be used for games as I am. Themes such as improving aspects of entertainment and training are two perfectly relevant parts of this conversation.

Well yeah, VR has applications other than gaming, sure.

Hell, if anything, that's one of the reasons why I think the Oculus Rift has the biggest chance of leading to VR being widely accepted. Game consoles are way too restricted, whereas PCs are more open. PCs are used for pretty much everything, whereas game consoles are still pretty much just for playing games. The open nature of the PC better allows for anyone with a use for VR to implement it in a niche way that gets people to buy the VR tech. And once more people adopt the VR tech, then it's easier to justify making games that utilize it to its full potential. That at least has a chance of happening on PC, but it's not gonna happen on consoles any time soon.

It's sort of like the mouse/keyboard situation. Not a 100% proper analogy since mice and keyboards were accepted on PCs before PC games ever became wildly popular. But same principle. There are entire genres of PC games that are pretty much absent from consoles, simply because those games can't be properly played without a keyboard and mouse. Why is that the case? Didn't the PS3 support use of keyboards and mice? The problem is that while the technology allowed the use of keyboards and mice, most developers didn't properly support it because console gamers don't want to be using a keyboard and mouse. And there were no other PS3 functions to get a keyboard and mouse onto people's PS3's. Anything that required a keyboard and mouse, people were gonna do on PC. And that was generally for non-gaming related stuff. So, PC gamers get stuff like proper RTS games, while console gamers are like, "**** that...I ain't buying a keyboard/mouse to play my console games, even if that results in entire genres of games failing to appear on my preferred console."

Similar thing with VR, at least I suspect. VR on PC might have a chance, provided that the technology is open enough that it allows for being implemented for purposes other than games. So, the VR-capable user base slowly builds up over time, largely due to VR applications that have NOTHING to do with games. Eventually, MAYBE enough PC users have VR headsets available that it makes financial sense to release a big must-have PC game that actually requires VR. But that's not gonna happen on consoles. That's not a fact, that's just a prediction. If VR is gonna become a big trend, then PC is gonna be the trendsetter. Not any game console. If entire genres of games are dead on consoles because consumers aren't willing to use a mouse and keyboard (even when that capability is built into the console that they already bought), then I'm fairly confident that most console gamers aren't gonna screw around with VR headsets either. If VR becomes big, it's gonna happen on PC first. And it's not gonna be because of games, it's gonna be because of the other potential applications for VR.

My predictions, Sony was not at CES this year with the sony morpehus and they did not go there most likely as a part of their marketing strategy.

At E3 though, that's where it's going down.. Sony will show some incredibe VR stuff that will blow everyones minds and they will also announce the release date of their vr headset to around christmas sales. Trust me (even though you don't have no reason for that because this is only a prediction:) Sony will deliver when it comes to VR.

You know oculus hasn't even figured out what input device they will use, if it's mouse/keyboard a handcontroller or motion controllers, it's seems though from that interview i saw from CES that handcontroller probably will be the standard for the oculus and that's great! Sony on the other hand has motioncontrollers allready intergrated with the ps4 and you can get cheap ps move controllers for as little as $20 compared to the stem system motion controllers for pc that costs $380.

Sony has the best chance to make vr become mainstream because first of all it's gonna be cheaper than all other vr devices, and the inputs are allready out there from the ps3 era cheap as dirt and i can see that now that that was a part of their future plan for VR even back then before it was even announced. Sony are smart, like i said earlyer in this thread, they are allways one step ahead of time.

Sony is going to show off Morpheus during E3 most likely

Personally I'm not even slightly interested in it, though I do see some valid applications.

Any game that has a cockpit (racing, space sim, etc) could benefit from the ability to look around. Depending on how the peripheral vision works it could provide a more realistic sense of speed in a racing game.

Overall I think these brands of VR will be popular for a short time before fading. Let's face it, no one wants a screen strapped to their head.

@The_Last_Ride: Yes, im pretty sure they will show Morpheus on E3 this year and if i know them correctly they will showcase something extraordinary that will make people interested in VR.

They really need to make gamers interested if they want it to become mainstream and also movie enthusiasts so my prediction is we will see a demo of a AAA 1st person VR game made for VR and some 3d - 360 movie stuff and probably also a Nasa VR application made in cooperation between Nasa and Sony.

I can predict and speculate even further and say what if Sony drops the bomb at E3 and announces the long awaited "The Last Guardian" in VR mode? Would that help sell this product to the mainstream? I believe so. That would make perfect sence when i think about it:)

Edit: Gamers, not 1st person gamers only, VR is something for everyone

Well they need to show why the morpheus is a must get technology, i don't think it is. Last Guardian doesn't fit into the the VR thing because it's a third person game

@The_Last_Ride: Yes i know it`s a 3rd person game and normally i would prefer it as a 3rd person game if it ever comes out but if they do the same thing with The Last Guardian as Rockstar did with GTA5 it might had been possible, hard to say from a technical standpoint as im not an expert on this issue but if they managed to do it with GTA5 why not be able to do it with The Last Guardian? To have this 1st person VR mode + the normal 3rd person mode?

The Last Guardian has been hold back for so long now and it has been so much hush hush about this project that im starting to think that this game was first intended as a PS3 exclusive and then somewhere down the line they desided to make this game as a flagship title for the Morpheus, im guessing if that ever happens they will sell it as a normal 3rd person game for the PS3 and on the PS4 it will have VR mode intergrated as well.

Sony are those kind of entrepeneurs that do things on a grand scale so it would not suprise me if this is going to happen, from my point of view this would be the best move they could possibly do to get the Morpheus out to the consumers as long as it works perfectly well in VR. It would also be a major sellingpoint for the Ps4 console alone and if you think about it, what type of gamers do you think would most likely get into VR of all the biggest genres? It would be the gamers who likes one of the biggest genres of them all and that is Action adventure / Fantasy, a genre that most people likes.